But did they really chose to live that way or did the government institutions just kind of lag behind the economic progress? Economic progress excuses many sin

But did they really chose to live that way or did the government institutions just kind of lag behind the economic progress? Economic progress excuses many sins. You see a similar thing in China. Human rights abuses are frequently minimized as long as there is economic growth. Many cultures used torture and hanging and all sorts of extreme and cruel punishments. Even the paragons of peaceful resistance did: the Tibetans. But many cultures chose to outgrow such practices. I'd argue that: 1) The Singapore people never _chose_ to live this way, that it's an accident of history, and that economic growth keeps most people from complaining about it. 2) given the control of the press and the draconian government they couldn't easily chose to live differently now. We should be wary of imitating them, because it would be very hard to dismantle a system like that once it has been installed.